The governing of the country is very much complicated by the particular structure with three language communities (Flanders in the North, Wallonia in the South, and a tiny German speaking region in the East), and the multilingual, multicultural and multinational status of Brussels. The language in Wallonia is French. The language in Flanders is Flemish, which is officially the same language as the Dutch which is spoken in Holland. In practice, the differences between Flemish and Dutch (mostly pronunciation, also vocabulary and expressions) are comparable to the differences between British and American English, and are just big enough so that Dutch TV sometimes add subtitles to Flemish spoken movies. Although Brussels is surrounded by Flemish territory, the majority there speaks French. Flanders comprises about 55% of the 10 million of Belgian inhabitants, Brussels 10 % and Wallonia the remaining 35%.
There have been a lot of political conflicts between the two main linguistic communities, but the language problem, which is the issue that has received most publicity outside Belgium, is (at least in my view) much less important than it seems. Since the federalization of the state the linguistic conflicts seem to have very much diminished, now that politicians are no longer capable to blame difficulties on the "other side". There have never been any real conflicts between Belgian (Walloon and Flemish) people, as opposed to conflicts between Belgian politicians. The best illustration of that is that even during the most heated episodes, no one has ever been killed or seriously injured in clashes connected with the linguistic conflict. It suffices to consider similar situations in other countries where conflicts exist between cultural or linguistic communities (e.g. Yugoslavia, Canada, Northern Ireland) to conclude that such peacefulness is not the common rule.
Belgium has, since the Middle Ages, always been one of the richest and most developed regions in the world (just look at the historic churches, town halls, and pieces of art, in cities such as Brussels, Ghent, Bruges, and Antwerp to get an idea of the wealth during that period). This wealth was not due to natural resources, which are almost absent, but to trade, which was facilitated by Belgium's central position in Western Europe, and the presence of many land- and waterways.
Although it is fashionable in some quarters to view Belgium as an "artificial state", put together by the European powers after Napoleon's defeat, history shows that the region which is now called Belgium has been almost continuously under a single rule since at least the 16th century, when it got split off from Holland during the reformation. Before that period (and for a few years after the defeat of Napoleon), Belgium and the Netherlands were united, forming the "Low Countries", a remainder of the 3rd, central part of the Frankish empire, Lotharingia, in between France and Germany. There has historically never been a clear split between the Walloon and Flemish provinces. Insofar that there was a division in counties and duchies (Flanders, Brabant, Liège/Limburg, ...), the divide was East-West rather than North-South as it is now. (this is clearly seen on a set of historical maps of the wider German region). The "Flemish" painters and polyphonists who were famous throughout Europe in the Middle Ages and Renaissance often were of Walloon origin.
This lack of pride also leads to the lack of a clear image for the country abroad. Other comparable small countries have easily recognizable images: for example, Switzerland is immediately associated with banking, clocks and mountains, Holland with tulips, cheese and wind-mills. For Belgium, on the other hand, no clear associations spring to mind. This is due partly to the lack of image-building and marketing, partly to the fact that the Belgian culture and landscape is extremely varied, and cannot be summarized in a few symbols.
To my opinion, it is not due to the lack of a national identity, though. That national character is rather subtle, and not easy to formulate in a few words. Though Flemish and Walloon cultures differ in several respects (as could be expected, the Flemish are closer to the more disciplined Germanic culture, and the Walloon to the more loquacious Latin culture), they have more things in common than most are willing to admit. A clear sign of that is that though on the basis of language, Wallonia seems to fit in with the neighbouring France, and Flanders with the neighbouring Holland, no one in either Flanders or Wallonia has ever dared to suggest that their region should leave Belgium and join the more powerful neighbour state. Not even the German-speaking part, which was annexed after the first world war, is willing to rejoin the wealthy unified Germany.
What all Belgians have in common is a love for the "good life", which they find in their excellent food and drink, comfortable housing, reliable medical and social services, highly developed traffic and communications infrastructure. Belgians are not the type wanting to impress other people with their achievements, or to convince others of their righteousness. They tend to be rather reserved or introverted in their first contacts with other people, but are sincerely warm and friendly once you get to know them better. They are happy when they can enjoy a safe and comfortable life, together with their family and friends, and they put a high value on privacy. They have a clear aversion towards moralizing, towards telling other people how they should or should not behave (an attitude for which they critize their neighbours in Holland), and they take "live and and let live" as the basis for their philosophy. R. Hill, in a book on different European characters, describes the Belgians as "open-minded opportunists", noting their pragmatical attitude.
An anecdote illustrating this attitude was reported by a British officer commanding Belgian troops during the first world war. Whereas soldiers normally are supposed to follow orders without questioning, the Belgians would first ask why they were supposed to do something particular. Only after they got an acceptable reason they would execute the order.
Another character trait noted by Hill is a "democratic" attitude, in the sense that Belgians make very little distinction between classes or social strata. It is not because you are a professor, a noble man or a rich banker that you will be treated with special respect or privileges. Everybody has the right to be taken serious, and to get a good education and a decent way of living. On the economic plane, this egalitarian philosophy is illustrated by the fact that Belgium has the lowest percentage of poor people in the world.
The skepticism towards government, the lack of pride about one's own achievements, and the general "anarchistic" way of doing things may create the false impression that life in Belgium is not well-organized. Though Belgians dislike discipline imposed upon them by superiors, bureaucracy, ideology or religion, they compensate by hard work and self-discipline. In spite of regular strikes and changes of government, Belgians trains do run on time, and the administrative services do help people generally in a fast and effective way.
Belgian workers are the most productive in the world. According to recent German statistics (1992), industrial productivity (amount of goods produced per worker) in Belgium is some 20 % higher than in the next most productive country, the neighbouring Holland, and well above that of the industrial giants Japan, Germany and USA. This is due to extended automatization, highly skilled labor, shift work that minimizes idle time, and low absenteeism. Although workers have relatively much vacation and free time, and can easily take time off for illness without risking to lose their jobs, few working days are actually lost. This is probably due to the excellent system of low cost medicine and the tradition of solving industrial conflicts by negotiations. Somewhat surprisingly, given the well publicized strikes, industrial unrest over the last 10 years in Belgium is one of the lowest in the European Union.
Thanks to the open market, the good distribution channels and the strong consumer requirements, one can find the most diverse and high quality goods in the shops at relatively low prices. The high production and consumption standards have led to the publicity slogan "This is Belgian" being used as a quality label (and not, as one might imagine, as an appeal to nationalistic feelings, such as "Buy American"). The association of "Belgian" with "high quality" is slowly diffusing to neighbouring countries, especially in the domains of food, drink and housing. More unexpectedly, Belgians (the "Antwerp Six" group) have recently made inroads in top ten fashion design, a domain which was almost exclusively under the control of French, Italian and Japanese designers.
All this, together with the generally peaceful atmosphere (the crime rate in Belgium is still one of the lowest in Europe), and the effort put into developing the basic things in life (Belgium is one of the few countries where there is no housing problem, because almost every Belgian family tends to build its own home) would put Belgium very high on a hypothetical "quality of life" ordering of countries. In international polls, Belgians always tend to come out among those most satisfied with their life and least inclined to emigrate to another country. This is in sharp contrast, but not in contradiction, with the very critical attitude which Belgians exhibit towards their country and government. (one can only conclude that they would be even more critical when living in another country).
The things that are especially noticed by foreign visitors are the excellent food, and the very dense concentration of restaurants and pubs, everywhere in the country (another world record). Belgian cuisine, which is related to the French one, offers many dishes worth trying. Especially the beer is a national speciality: there are hundreds of different types with distinctive tastes, which are all served in their own specially made glasses. It is a pity that the international marketing is not better developed, because everybody knows Dutch, Danish or German beers, whereas the Belgian ones (which are much richer in variety and taste) are known only by the real beer lovers. A better known speciality are the Belgian chocolates which are sold all over the world. And then there is the national dish, "French" fries ("frites"), which, according to legend, were invented in Belgium, not France, and which are supposed to be better here than in any other place in world.
In order to relativize this quite rosy picture of Belgium, let me also mention the most serious problems that are to be solved. There is first the large budget deficit (which after many economies is getting under control). This has led to a government debt, which, as a percentage of GNP, is the highest one in the industrialized world (OECD countries). The Belgian state as a whole has no external debt, though (in contrast to for example the U.S.A). This can be explained by the fact that Belgium has one of the highest savings percentages in the world. The debts of the government are more than compensated for by the credits accumulated by Belgian companies and households, which are eager to invest their money in government bonds, as they offer a high and reliable interest. The balance of payments for Belgium has been consistently positive for the last decennia. This may in part explain the ease with which the government has been relying on borrowed money.
Other problems are the continuing high percentage of unemployment, though the unemployed are still rather well protected by social benefits. Recently there have been troubles with the many Islamic immigrants, for whom it is difficult to integrate the Western culture and system, and this, more frighteningly, reinforces the popularity of extreme right parties.
In cybernetical terms, the Belgian system might be described as highly self-organizing. The political system is based on discussion and compromise between different groups of interest, without a clear central control (the king has no real power, and the prime minister is mainly the person who is best suited for implementing the agreements). For example, socio-economical problems are mostly avoided by preparing "collective labor agreements", where trade unions and employers reach a compromise on wage increases in the coming period. Only when unions and employers cannot reach consensus, the governement will intervene by proposing a compromise.
A special expression, "a Belgian compromise", has been invented to design the typical solutions derived in this way: complex issues are settled by conceding something to every party concerned, through an agreement that is usually so complicated that nobody completely understands all its implications. In spite of the apparent inefficiency of these settlements, the compromises do work in practice, because they stop the existing conflicts, and thus allow life to go on without fights or obstructions. The practical ambiguities and confusions that arise out of the compromise are usually solved on the spot by the Belgians' talent for improvisation.
The experience gained in negotiating these intricate multiparty, multilingual and multicultural problems has led to an unlikely new export product: Belgian political expertise. At a certain moment, the presidents of the four largest political groups in the European Parliament, socialists, christian democrats, liberals and rainbow, were all Belgian, as is the president of the European federation of trade unions. The Belgian prime minister, Jean-Luc Dehaene, has recently succeeded in untying the Gordian knot of assigning some dozen different European institutions to the different member states of the European Union (a problem which had eluded the previous British and Danish presidencies of the European Community) by on the spot creating a new institution, so that every country could carry something home. This made him the front-runner in the race for becoming the new president of the European Commission (the "head of government" on the European level). (the only reason he did not get it was because of an unclearly motivated veto by Britain).
Another example of this peculiar way of problem-solving, which reached the international newspapers, was the royal question. All laws accepted by Belgian parliament must be signed by the king before they can be applied. Normally this is an automatic procedure, but in the case of the law legalizing abortion, the former king Baudoin, on religious grounds, concluded that his conscience did not allow him to approve the law. The government discovered a small paragraph in the constitution stating that approval of the king is not needed in situations where the king is incapable to govern, a provision for exceptional circumstances such as mental illness of the ruler. The compromise reached between government and king, was that the king was declared incapable to rule for just one day, enough to pass the law without his signature!
Though people who highly respect formal rules might be shocked by such a pragmatic treatment of a sensitive issue, the problem was solved in a for everybody acceptable way: the king's conscience was kept intact, and the democratic decision was implemented with a minimum of delay. For the future, a change of the constitution is planned in order to avoid similar problems.
